Oshawa career college closed for a day due to mall odour

Oshawa This Week

OSHAWA -- A bad smell at the Oshawa Centre that recently prompted the closure of a career college located in the mall wasn’t due to ongoing construction, mall officials say.

Trillium College was closed on March 3 due to the odour issue. One staff member at the college, who declined to provide her name, said she believed it was related to current construction at the mall and some employees reported feeling sick as a result.

But Kimberly Barnard, property manager for the Oshawa Centre, said the smell was caused by contractors flushing sewer lines.

The sewer lines are flushed every six months, but Ms. Barnard said it’s usually done overnight. This month, the contractors were running late and didn’t do it until 6 or 7 a.m. and as a result the exhaust fans hadn’t fully cleared the air.

“Because of that it didn’t allow time for the air to clear and that’s why Trillium noticed it because they’re quite close to the underground concourse,” she said.

Ms. Barnard said the smell was not related to chemicals and other areas of the mall remained open.